Major programmes implemented by VHAM: (YEAR 2012-2015)
Meghalaya with a mission to work with
Government, Non Government and other Agencies as well as like minded individuals working for
health.
In 6 Villages in Ri Bhoi and 3 in JaintiaHills. The Programmes addresses Public Health Issues like Sanitation and Water, Livelihood programmes through SHGs; Training on health with focus on
Reproductive Child Health; Providing Health care to women and children with focus on Pregnant women; Promoting Indigenous system of medicines and livelihood; and Capacitating village leaders (both men, women and youth) in Leadership skills and Advocacy strategy.
Funder: IIMK Belgium
The project started in July 2008 and addresses IDU needs through Needle Syringe Exchange Programme, Opiod Substitution Therapy (clinical Care), Primary health care (Abscess management, referral etc), Condom promotion and distribution, Advocacy with
community and stakeholders, detoxification (referral). All these activities functions through designated Drop in Centres.
There are 3 such centres, with one centre set up exclusively for female drug users in
Shillong. These centres are all accreditated by the National Accreditation Board of Hospitals and Hospital settings (NABH) and hence are licensed to provide Opiod Substitution Therapy (OST) to the patients coming to the centres.
Funder MSACS.
VHAM is managing 2 Primary Health Centre's in East Khasi Hills District viz Jatah PHC and
Dangar PHC. Currently, the project gives VHAM the authority of managing the PHCs with financial support from the State government. This is a scheme that falls under the Public-Private Partnership of the National Rural Health Mission. In a nutshell the project is to ensure 24x 7 quality primary health care to people in the villages under the PHC, addressing emergencies and assisting the
Government in times of epidemics, natural disasters etc.
Funder: National Health Mission, Government of Meghalaya
VHAM is the State Nodal Agency for Community Monitoring. The project is about strengthening the feedback from the community in relation to the health services rendered through the various PHCs. The project is implemented in 3 Districts- East Khasi Hills, Jaintia Hills and West Garo Hills and work is executed by District NGOs- Grassroots for East Khasi Hills, MCSWA for Jaintia Hills and
Bakdil for West Garo hills. Altogether 27 PHCs are included in this project.
Funder- National health Mission. Government of Meghalaya
VHAI was the sub recipient under Caritas India, VHAM (as a State partner) was the sub sub recipient. One of the key service delivery areas is training/reorientation of ASHAs on malaria control interventions within the project period in coordination, consultation and recommendation with national/state/district VBDCP authorities.
VHAM has been designated to train all the ASHAs of the State ,in Malaria control and treatment. The training takes place every two years or as and when there is any change in the treatment regime for Malaria. The training is for 2 days and is conducted with technical support from the
Department of Health in Meghalaya.
The trainers include the Medical & Health Officers and Lab techs of respective PHC, Malaria Technical Supervisors of the District Malaria Office and the trained Staff from VHAM.
Funder: Voluntary Health Association of India/Caritas India.
Support: State Vector Borne disease control programme, Government of Meghalaya.
Relief to flood affected North Garo Hills
VHAM with St Edmunds College and V.O.I.C.E (www.incrisisrelief.org) collaboratively raised funds
to address education, food, clothes and solar lights. Most of the relief donation was in cash transfer for educational materials like bags and exercise books and solar lights. What was donated
in kind were clothes and materials. The University of New Jersey, USA, donated Solar Lights for 1000 North Garo Hills students amounting to a tune of Rs.400000/- (Rupees four lakhs only).
Aditya Birla Fashion House donated material of 2041 metres for the making of daksaris*. Individual
donations from all over India and other countries amounted to Rs. 9, 52,545/- from October 2014 to
March 2015. This amount was used for Educational materials and household items between 38%
for Educational materials and 18% for household items and 44% for Solar lights.
The project is implemented with the goal of institutionalising HIV/AIDS care within the Prisons of Meghalaya.
The project is starting with base activities such as sensitisations for Jail staffs and the inmates (especially the PWIDs), Orientations and capacity building to the clinical team in the jail and risk
profiling of the inmates, besides OST management for inmates who are drug users.
The project is funded by FHI 360.
As part of its effort to help people in need, VHAM identified a team of volunteers among the working team to undergo 12 day training in Palliative care. The training was conducted by the Department of Anaesthesiology and Oncology of the North East Indira Gandhi Regional Institute of Health and Medical Sciences (NEIGRIHMS).
Post training, the volunteers made and continue to make home visits to patients who are at the advance stages of terminal diseases like cancer.
In these home visits, the volunteers provide the following main services:-
1. Counselling (to both patient and family members).
2. Pain management through medicines by consulting with the concern Physician.
3. Wound dressing/cleaning.
Being an organisation which stresses on the overall health of the people from all section of the society, VHAM has taken serious concern over the rise of drug abuse in the capital, and its ramifications in diseases such as HIV/AIDS. In this connection, with support from the Ministry of Health and Family Welfare, through the Meghalaya AIDS Control Society, VHAM is providing clinical treatment to drug users who want to treat their addiction. As part of this project, VHAM is opening an exclusive clinic for women who are struggling with the disease of drug addiction. The clinic will be provided with a Doctor, a nurse and a Counsellor, besides the supporting staff and the Manager who will oversee the functioning of the clinic. The treatment is on OPD mode, the patients will not be staying in the clinic. Medicines will be provided along with counselling, their overall health will be assessed and managed to ensure they are taken care of. The patients that will be coming to the office daily to access this clinical care will be not more than 15, they will remain in the clinic for 20 -30 minutes and leave for their respective homes and place of work. They won’t be coming at the same time; hence there will not be any crowd in the office or its vicinity. While the idea may give a sense of insecurity to the community and to our neighbours, yet we want to emphasise here the need to address the problem of drug use head on, it is present in every community, family and workplace. The drug dependants who come to our clinic represent a very small section of the larger drug using population in the City, they are under treatment, and with a lot of support their presence in the community will be inconsequential.
Understanding the nature of work in connection with drug dependency, VHAM is committed in initiating a head on collaboration with the community where the Office is located, the collaboration will be in terms of addressing drug dependency amongst the people in the community, addressing the rapid drug peddling and trafficking that the entire State is facing at present. We have learnt from experience that the community is the backbone in efficiency on any intervention over the problem of drug use.
Our Partners
VHAM works with other organizations, Forums, Institutions to achieve its objectives. VHAM is an
active member of:
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